Wide receivers Pope, Wiggins expected to enter transfer portal

Photo credit: Jared Lennon

Two former starting receivers for the Miami Hurricanes are expected to enter the transfer portal, head coach Manny Diaz announced on Monday.

“We took Dee [Wiggins] and Mark [Pope] off the depth chart. They’re both not officially in the [transfer] portal yet but that’s probably what we would expect to happen,” Diaz said in a press conference.

Pope and Wiggins, both starters on last year’s squad, have seen their playing time decrease dramatically through six games this season. Pope has not logged a single catch, while Wiggins has four catches for 25 yards on the season.

Pope took practice reps at cornerback over the past couple months, and he appeared in Miami’s game against Central Connecticut State at that position.

Despite producing over a combined 1,500 total yards of offense over the prior three seasons, the pair of juniors have dealt with consistency issues throughout their time with the Hurricanes. Both Pope and Wiggins were criticized often last season for their dropped passes.

The announcement from Diaz does not come as a surprise, as he was quite candid about the potential of some players leaving Miami’s football team as their roles have lessened.

“There’s going to be guys who are going to be unhappy when their roles are reduced,” Diaz said. “Some guys will be back and some probably won’t.”

With the expected departures of Pope and Wiggins, young receivers such as freshmen Jacolby George, Romello Brinson and Michael Redding III should see their roles increase throughout the remainder of the season. Second-year freshman Xavier Restrepo also continues to progress, having tallied 236 receiving yards through six games.

Miami (3-4, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) looks to end its two-game skid on Saturday with a home matchup versus No. 19 North Carolina State at 7:30 p.m.